African history: pre-colonial Books

Book SynopsisBeautiful, mysterious, and tragic, Cleopatra remains one of the most mesmerizing women of all time—and here is her story, based on the latest archaeological research. Secrets unfold in the official companion book to the new exhibition cosponsored by National Geographic, opening in Philadelphia in May 2010 and touring the United States for several years. Written by the inimitable Zahi Hawass in collaboration with underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio, this richly illustrated book chronicles the life of Cleopatra and the centuries-long quest to learn more about the queen and her tumultuous era, the last pharaonic period of Egyptian history. For the crowds nationwide who will visit the blockbuster exhibit—as well as the huge readership for popular illustrated histories such as this—Cleopatra and the Lost Treasures of Egypt holds rare glimpses and stunning revelations from the life of a star-crossed queen.

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Book SynopsisExploring Religion in Ancient Egypt offers a stimulating overview of the study of ancient Egyptian religion by examining research drawn from beyond the customary boundaries of Egyptology and shedding new light on entrenched assumptions. .Trade Review“This book provides a new and rather different view of religious practice amongst the ancient Egyptians, drawing on an extensive range of texts, artefacts, contextual information, and anthropological approaches from outside Egypt.” (Ancient Egypt, 1 April 2015)Table of ContentsPreface vi 1 Belief without a Book 1 2 Finding the Sacred in Space and Time 38 3 Creating Sacred Space and Time: Temple Architecture and Festival 80 4 Chaos and Life: Forces of Creation and Destruction 110 5 Being Good: Doing, Saying, and Making Good Possible 150 6 Being Well 177 7 Attaining Eternal Life: Sustenance and Transformation 201 Bibliography 238 Index 256

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Book SynopsisMarianne Eaton-Krauss is an Egyptologist who has taught at universities in Berlin, Muenster, and Marburg, Germany, and written more than 50 articles about Tutankhamun and the Amarna Period. Her publications on objects from the king's tomb include, most recently, The Thrones, Chairs, Stools, and Footstools from the Tomb of Tutankhamun (2008).Trade ReviewPacked with important information and attractively produced ... [This book] is an important critical review of many of the key topics and theories relating to the reign of Tutankhamun, and as such is a 'must have' for anyone with a serious interest in the Amarna Period and its aftermath. * Egyptian Archaeology *A useful discussion of the evidence relating to a pivotal figure in the history of ancient Egypt. * Ancient Egypt *[The book offers] careful interpretation of inscriptions and artistic trends. * AramcoWorld *Eaton-Krauss has provided a fine service by gathering together so much information [from foreign-language studies] ... She has produced a book that is extremely fascinating for anyone interested in Tutankhamun and at the same time, with copious notes, providing valuable material for professional Egyptologists. * Classics for All *A most welcomed monograph on the reign of king Tutankhaten/Tutankhamun. It provides both professional and general audiences with up-to-date information, detailed discussions that in some points do not lack Eaton-Krauss's necessary criticism, and well organised chapters. This work challenges deeply-ingrained associations of wealth, mystery and curses with the king by providing readers with a study of his parentage, childhood, accession, architectural and sculptural projects. * Orientalistische Literaturzeitung *As a leading expert on the monuments, texts, and images relating to Tutankhamun, Marianne Eaton-Krauss has provided a fascinating account of the young king’s reign that is both engaging and scholarly. Drawing on a wide range of material known only to specialists, the author goes far beyond the endlessly repeated and often sensationalised narratives about the young king and the discovery of his tomb to truly tell the story of the unknown Tutankhamun. -- Gay Robins, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History, Emory University, USADr Eaton-Krauss’s thoroughly researched book restores ‘King Tut’ to his true historical significance. It presents a complete picture of a fascinating personality which intrigues as well as charms. Young Tutankhamun was on the Egyptian throne during an exciting period when the country was recovering from the effects of a profound political, economic and ideological revolution instigated by the ‘heretic’ king Akhenaten. Tutankhamun’s childhood and the ‘restoration period’ during which he reigned are described and analysed. The King’s extensive building activities and the intensive production of sculptures of the traditional deities are discussed in detail. His premature death and the difficulties accompanying the preparation of his burial are explained. This is a book which will satisfy specialists as well as amateurs. -- Jaromir Malek, Senior Research Associate, Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, UK, and author of The Treasures of Tutankhamun (2012)Marianne Eaton-Krauss has been recognized as a scholar of Tutankhamun and a truth-teller for decades. When she applies her careful and incisive powers of reason to the hundreds of recently published books and articles on this king, the reader learns what is what, without the drama so frequently draped over everything Tutankhamun. -- Betsy M. Bryan, Alexander Badawy Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University, USATable of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1 Prince Tutankhaten Chapter 2 King Tutankhaten Chapter 3 Tutankhamun and the Restoration Chapter 4 Statues for Amun Chapter 5 Tutankhamun’s Building Projects Chapter 6 Tutankhamun’s Funerary Temple, his Tomb and the Sarcophagus found in it Chapter 7 Tutankhamun’s Death and Burial Epilogue Map Chronology Abbreviations Endnotes Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis fascinating study combines the latest archaeological research with an analysis of the available literary and non-literary evidence to examine the organization, equipment, and tactics of the Numidian warriors who fought in conflicts across the ancient Mediterranean as part of the armies of Carthage and Rome between 300 BC and AD 300.The Numidian light cavalry were among the best-known horsemen in the ancient world: riding without saddles or bridle, carrying only hide shields for defense and clutching a handful of light javelins, they were renowned for their darting attacks, swift retreats, and skirmishing prowess. Yet, as much as they were respected by their allies and enemies, they were unfairly derided for their indiscipline, their perceived lack of culture, and their fecklessness, and dismissed as uncivilized, nomadic barbarians from beyond the fringes of the cultured, settled Mediterranean world. The famous portrayal of Numidian horsemen on Trajan''s Column, oTable of ContentsIntroduction Historical Background Numidian Forces Appearance and Clothing Weapons and Equipment Conclusion Select Bibliography Plate Commentaries Index

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Book Synopsis'. . . we need this book. Of course Africa needs it as well, because no other huge area of the planet is treated as such a singular region, and that has to change. But the rest of the planet needs It's a Continent because we miss out by not recognising the individual majesty, the complexity, the beauty, the culture and the stories of the dozens of African countries. We owe it to ourselves and our history to put that right.' - Simon ReeveWhy is Africa still perceived as a single country?How did African soldiers contribute to World War II?Who else led the charge against Apartheid in South Africa?How did an African man become one of the wealthiest people in history?There are (hi)stories you were never taught in school.IT'S A CONTINENT delves into these stories and reveals an Africa as you've never read it before. Breaking down this vast, beautiful, and complex continent and exploring each nations' unique history and culture, IT'S A CONTINENT highlights the key historical moments that have shaped each nation and contributed to its modern global position.Each chapter focuses on a different country and uncovers stories that mainstream education doesn't address at its peril.This book aims to highlight the consequences of colonialism and how this legacy reverberates today, as well as how many African countries continue to re-build in its wake.IT'S A CONTINENT is a bold and colourful corrective to the perception of Africa as a monolith. It reveals the fascinating, often overlooked, histories of its 54 nation states too often misrepresented, its inhabitants and its place in the world too often neglected.

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Book SynopsisExamines African debates on captivity, legal and illegal enslavement, and religious and ethnic identity in the era of West African jihads. In this pioneering study—the first to cover ransoming, or the release of a prisoner prior to enslavement for cash or kind, in African regions south of the Sahara—Jennifer Lofkrantz focuses on a broad temporal and geographical area ranging from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries and including present-day Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Morocco. The work concentrates particularly on the nineteenth-century jihad era and on the Sokoto Caliphate and the Umarian States. The overall period was a time of intense intellectual debate over the questions of who was and who was not a Muslim, how Islamic law could and should be implemented, what rights and protections recognized freeborn Muslims should have, and what role governments should play in ensuring those rights especially during a time when slavery was legal. Ransoming discourses and procedures expose Muslim West African answers to these questions as well as providing a lens on broader issues and ideas on slavery, freedom, and religious and ethnic identity. Based on research conducted mostly in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and France and on Arabic-, French-, and English-language archival sources, treatises, personal correspondence, oral sources and testimony, biographical data, travel reports, and early colonial documents, this study approaches the question of ransoming of captives through an examination, first, of intellectual debates among pre-nineteenth-century West African scholars on issues of ransoming; second, of nineteenth-century policies based on understandings of those intellectual debates in the context of the jihads; and, finally, of West African practices of ransoming in the nineteenth century.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Tables Introduction Chapter 1 - Islamic Discourse on Slavery and Ransoming before 1800 Chapter 2 - The Policy and Practice of Ransoming in the Maghrib Chapter 3 - Jihad, the Sokoto Caliphate, and Ransoming Chapter 4 - The Jihad of 'Umar Taal and its Ransoming Non-Policies Chapter 5 - The Negotiation and Practice of Ransoming Prisoners Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisArchives of Times Past explores particular sources of evidence on southern Africa’s time before the colonial era. It gathers recent ideas about archives and archiving from scholars in southern Africa and elsewhere, focusing on the question: ‘How do we know, or think we know, what happened in the times before European colonialism?’The essays by well-known historians, archaeologists and researchers engage these questions from a range of perspectives and in illuminating ways. Written from personal experience, they capture how these experts encountered their archives of knowledge beyond the textbook.The essays are written at a time when public discussion about the history of southern Africa before the colonial era is taking place more openly than at any other time in the last hundred years They will appeal to students, academics, educationists, teachers, archivists, and heritage, museum practitioners and the general public.Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Editorial Note Map Part I First Thoughts about the Archive Chapter 1 Exploring the Archive of the Times before Colonialism — Cynthia Kros, John Wright, Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Helen Ludlow Chapter 2 A Young Woman’s Journey of Discovery — Cynthia Kros and John Wright Chapter 3 Where Are the Deep Conversations about the Past? — Cynthia Kros and John Wright Chapter 4 ‘Ask the Old People’; ‘Ask the Professors’ — Cynthia Kros and John Wright Part II Commentaries and Conversations Chapter 5 Notes on a Kholwa Writer’s Life: Magema Fuze — Hlonipha Mokoena Chapter 6 An Archive in an Old Tin Trunk — Rachel King Chapter 7 Making ‘Tribal Histories’: The Work of Paul-Lenert Breutz — Fred Morton and Jan Boeyens Chapter 8 Conversations with Sekibakiba Lekgoathi — Sekibakiba Lekgoathi, Cynthia Kros and John Wright Chapter 9 Unpacking Olden Times — John Wright Part III Becoming Explorers Chapter 10 From ‘Nature Study’ to ‘Nature’s Archives’: My Journey into Environmental History — Muchaparara Musemwa Chapter 11 Nervously Entering the World of Carl Hoffmann and His Interlocutors — Lize Kriel Chapter 12 Dreams and Destinies: Stepping into the World of Archaeology — Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu Chapter 13 Life with the James Stuart Archive — John Wright Part IV Engaging with Archaeology and Rock Art Chapter 14 Digging Historic Cave: An Archaeological and Historical Quest — Amanda Esterhuysen Chapter 15 Storm Shelter: Rediscovering an Archive of Rock Art — Geoffrey Blundell Chapter 16 A Lion’s Life: Tracking the Biography of an Archaeological Artefact — Justine Wintjes Part V Conflicting Opinions Chapter 17 A Neglected Archive – and an Academic Pact — Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu Chapter 18 Mapungubwe Imagined — Himal Ramji Chapter 19 Mkhize Historians Dispute the Past — Grant McNulty Part VI Further Thoughts Chapter 20 Making Journeys into the Archive — Cynthia Kros Chapter 21 The Archive in Pictures: Visual Essay — Justine Wintjes Glossary Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThis is the illustrated guide to the temples, tombs and pyramids. It is a fascinating tour of the temples built to worship the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt, including Philae, Karnak and Abydos. It is a detailed survey of the famous tombs of the pharaohs, their queens and their royal officials. It offers compelling insights into the daily lives and religious practices of the ancient Egyptains. It is illustrated with over 500 photographs of the major sites. Ancient Egypt has captivated visitors for centuries. This beautifully illustrated volume offers an intriguing insight into the religious and burial practices of the ancient Egyptians. It reveals the tombs of the three most famous ancient burial sites in Egypt: Giza, Saqqara and the Valley of the Kings, where the famous tomb of the boy-king Tuthankhamun was discovered. It also investigates the numerous temples of the pharaohs, gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. Lavishly illustrated with wonderful photographs and detailed plans of the major sites, this informative book will provide the reader with a fresh and authoritative view of this ancient civilization.

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Book SynopsisNow available in paperback, Egyptomania takes us on a historical journey to unearth the Egypt of the imagination, a land of strange gods, mysterious magic, secret knowledge, monumental pyramids, enigmatic sphinxes and immense wealth. Egypt has always exerted a powerful attraction on the Western mind, and an array of figures have been drawn to the idea of Egypt. Even the practical-minded Napoleon dreamed of Egyptian glory and helped open the antique land to explorers. Ronald H. Fritze goes beyond art and architecture to reveal Egyptomania's impact on religion, philosophy, historical study, literature, travel, science and popular culture. All those who remain captivated by the ongoing phenomenon of Egyptomania will revel in the mysteries uncovered in this book.Trade Review'A broader interpretation of the subject, going back to the Greek historian Herodotus and forward to Cecil B. DeMille and Tutankhamen . . . Fritze reminds us that what fascinated later artists and their public was not what Egyptologists considered important. Largely self-nourishing, Egyptomania was often detached from its original sources, and the stream of dime novels and films about mummies and their curses have, according to scholars, more to do with Western guilt over imperialism than with the supernatural. Even the artifacts exhumed from Tutankhamens tomb with great fanfare beginning in 1922 did not, in fact, add much to our knowledge of ancient Egypt, although they were responsible for the museum world’s first blockbuster traveling exhibition . . . Document[s] an enduring fascination with its subject, based, as the author points out, on the fact that it is both comfortably familiar and intriguingly exotic.' - The New York Times, 'The richness, distinction and diversity of ancient Egyptian culture has fired imaginations for millennia. Here, historian Ronald Fritze examines Egyptomania in detail and through time. As Herodotus and other classical scholars extolled Giza’s pyramids and the great lighthouse at Alexandria, Egyptian cults and esoteric tracts seeped into Greece and Rome to later fascinate and befuddle medieval and Renaissance scholars. The cracking of hieroglyphs, discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and mummymania from the nineteenth century onwards ensured that the craze persists almost unabated today.' - Nature, 'Ronald H. Fritze proves himself an expert guide on this journey through the history of our fascination with Ancient Egypt in all its forms ranging from the serious study of Egyptology to its more bizarre manifestations in popular culture . . . an entertaining, enlightening work.' - Minerva magazine, 'Fritze has used this amazingly fertile field to produce a well-researched and comprehensive history of enthusiasm for all things Egyptological, from ancient times right up to the twenty-first century, spanning the whole spectrum. It is a remarkable achievement and makes for a fascinating read . . . there is a rich mine of factual material here which could repay detailed study.' - Ancient Egypt Magazine, 'Fritze surveys the bewildering variety of Egyptian rites dreamed up by the Rosicrucians, Freemasons and Theosophists, and takes us on an entertaining tour of fringe and alternative history set in the Land of the Nile.' - Fortean Times, 'The particular craze that’s the focus of veteran historian Ronald Fritzes new book Egyptomania is one of the oldest intellectual fads in the history of mankind: the fixation with ancient Egypt that’s been felt by the rest of the world for so long that it actually started when ancient Egypt wasn’t even ancient . . . Fritze’s narrative is dense with historical detail and frequently sparkles with wit. Anyone who has ever felt the touch of Egyptomania . . . will find plenty in these pages to feed their curiosity.' - Open Letters Monthly, 'It’s an enormous subject, and Fritze works his way through it all with a thoroughness no other account has ever quite matched . . . Delves into how the realities of Egyptology have been reimagined or misinterpreted as sources of hermeticism, portals to another reality, or tokens to confer knowledge and respectability . . . Fritze’s entertaining and enlightening work does well in separating ancient Egypt’s actual legacy from the pseudo-history of occultists and assorted charlatans.' - Publishers Weekly, 'From Medieval Christians and Muslims to Napoleon, a detailed but readable account of how Ancient Egypt has been a focus of fascination throughout history, capturing our imagination through its strange gods, murky magic, secret knowledge, immense wealth and mystifying mummies.' - The Bookseller, 'a fascinating read for any who are interested in Egyptian culture.' - Decatur Daily, 'Ron Fritze has an enviable ability to dig deep into the worlds of popular history. Well written, his new book, which goes right up to date, is wide-ranging, both chronologically and thematically. Fritze covers the pyramids, archaeology, film, popular fiction and a wide range of concerns and forms. Deserves wide attention.' - Jeremy Black, author of Contesting History.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Egyptomania through the Ages One: The Real Egypt Two: Ancient Egyptomania: Hebrews, Pharaohs and Plagues Three: Classical Egyptomania: The Greeks and Romans Four: Medieval Egyptomania: From St. Augustine to the Renaissance Five: Egyptomania from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment Six: Napoleon’s Expedition to Egypt and the Birth of Modern Egyptomania Seven: Nineteenth-century Egyptomania to the Discovery of Tut Eight: The Rise of Mass Egyptomania: Tutankhamun, Tutmania and the Curse of the Mummy Part Two: Varieties of Modern Egyptomania Nine: Occult Egyptomania Ten: Egyptomania on the Fringe of History Eleven: African American Egyptomania Twelve: Egyptomania and Fiction Postscript References Select Bibliography Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisDid the Exodus occur? This question has been asked in biblical scholarship since its origin as a modern science. The desire to resolve the question scientifically was a key component in the funding of archaeological excavations in the nineteenth century. Egyptian archaeologists routinely equated sites with their presumed biblical counterpart. Initially, it was taken for granted that the Exodus had occurred. It was simply a matter of finding the archaeological data to prove it. So far, those results have been for naught.The Exodus: An Egyptian Story takes a very real-world approach to understanding the Exodus. It is not a story of cosmic spectaculars that miraculously or coincidentally occurred when a people prepared to leave Egypt. There are no special effects in the telling of this story. Instead, the story is told with real people in the real world doing what real people do.Peter Feinman does not rely on the biblical text and is not trying to prove that the Bible is true. He places the Exodus within Egyptian history based on the Egyptian archaeological record. It is a story of the rejection of the Egyptian cultural construct and defiance of Ramses II. Egyptologists, not biblical scholars, are the guides to telling the Exodus story. What would you expect Ramses II to say after he had been humiliated? If there is an Egyptian smoking gun for the Exodus, how would you recognize it? To answer these questions requires us to take the Exodus seriously as a major event at the royal level in Egyptian history.Trade ReviewThe book is a reminder that myths and legends survive far longer than historical facts and can even shape the destinies of people living three millennia later. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ * Fortean Times *Table of Contents1. The Egyptological Search for the Exodus 2. Egypt, Egyptology, and the Exodus: The Egyptian Cultural Construct 3. The Hyksos: The People of the 400 Year Sojourn 4. The Hyksos: The Triumph and Defeat of Apophis 5. Ramses, the Pharaoh of the Exodus 6. The Exodus 7. Post-Exodus Stress Disorder

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Book SynopsisMarkets emerge in recent historical research as important spheres of economic interaction in ancient societies. In the case of ancient Egypt, traditional models imagined an all-encompassing centralized, bureaucratic economy that left practically no place for market transactions, as many surviving documents only described the activities of the royal palace and of huge institutions, mainly temples. Yet scattered references in the sources reveal that markets and traders were crucial actors in the economic life of ancient Egypt. In this perspective, this volume aims to discuss the role of markets, traders and economic interaction (not necessarily organized through markets) and the use of "money" (metals, valuable commodities) in pre-modern societies, based on archaeological, anthropological and historical evidence. Furthermore, it intends to integrate different perspectives about the social organization of transactions and exchanges and the different forms taken by markets, from meeting places where exchanges operated under ritualized procedures and conventions, to markets in which profit-seeking activities were marginal in respect with other practices that stressed, on the contrary, community collaboration. The book also deals with social forms of pre-modern exchanges in which trust and ethnic solidarity guaranteed the validity of commercial operations in the absence of formal codes of laws or accepted authorities over long distances (trade diasporas, guilds, etc.). Finally, the volume analyzes a critical aspect of small-scale trade and markets, such as the commercialization of agricultural household production and its impact on the peasant economic strategies. In all, the book covers a diversity of topics in which recent research in the fields of economic sociology, archaeology, anthropology, economics and history proves invaluable in order to analyze the role of Egyptian trade in a broader perspective, as well as to suggest new venues of comparative research, theoretical reflection and dialogue between Egyptology and social sciences.Table of ContentsPreface by Gianluca Miniaci and Juan Carlos Moreno García 1. Markets and transactions in pre-modern societies Juan Carlos Moreno García 2. A key commodity: The role of cowries in West Africa Anne Haour 3. Marketplaces and market exchanges in the pre-colonial Americas Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas 4. The enchanting scale: Magic and morality in the Bronze Age economic balance Chris Monroe 5. Markets, efflorescence, and political economy in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East Reinhard Pirngruber 6. Peasants, rural economy, and cash crops in medieval Islam Bethany J. Walker 7. Markets in the shadows, trade diasporas, and self-organizing trading/smuggling networks John B. Owens 8. Market performance in the grain market of late medieval Western Europe (c. 1300–1650) Bas van Leeuwen and Robin C.M. Philips 9. Two tales of pre-modern contraction: Wage differentials in late medieval and early modern Japan Osamu Saito 10. Markets, transactions, and ancient Egypt: New venues for research in a comparative perspective Juan Carlos Moreno García

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Book SynopsisA Painted Ridge is a book about the San (Bushmen) practice of rock painting. In it, David Witelson explores a suite of spatially close San rock painting sites in the Maclear District of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. As a suite, the sites are remarkable because, despite their proximity to each other, they share patterns of similarity and simultaneous difference. They are a microcosm that reflects, in a broad sense, a trend found at other painted sites in South Africa. Rather than attempting to explain these patterns chiefly in terms of chronological breaks or cultural discontinuities, this book seeks to understand patterns of similarity and difference primarily in terms of the performative nature of San image-making. In doing so, the bygone and almost unrecorded practice of San rock art is considered relative to ethnographically well-documented and observed forms of San expressive culture. The approach in the book draws on concepts and terminology from the discipline of performance studies to characterise the San practice of image-making as well as to coordinate otherwise disparate ideas about that practice. It is a study that aims to explicate the nuances of what David Lewis-Williams called the ‘production and consumption’ of San rock art.Table of ContentsPREFACE CHAPTER 1: A PAINTED RIDGE CHAPTER 2: PERFORMANCE THEORY CHAPTER 3: DANCING AND PAINTING—A PERFORMATIVE DYAD? CHAPTER 4: BEHIND THE SCENES CHAPTER 5: PAINTED AND IMPLIED INTERACTIONS CHAPTER 6: SHELTERED PERFORMANCES CHAPTER 7: COMING TO TERMS WITH DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES APPENDICES APPENDIX A: SITE MEASUREMENTS APPENDIX B: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAMS APPENDIX C: IMAGE COUNTS APPENDIX D: DIGITAL ENHANCEMENT PROCEDURES

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Book SynopsisThis book proposes to examine French and Francophone intellectual history in the period leading to the decolonization of sub-Saharan Africa (1945-1960). The analysis favours the epistemological links between ethnology, museology, sociology, and (art) history. In this discussion, a specific focus is placed on temporality and the role ascribed by these different disciplines to African pasts, presents, and futures. It is argued here that the post-war context, characterized, inter alia, by the creation of UNESCO, the birth of Présence Africaine and the prevalence of existentialism, bore witness to the development of new regimes of historicity and to the partial refutation of a progress-based modernity. This investigation is predicated on case studies from West and Central Africa (AOF, AEF and Belgian Congo) and, whilst adopting a postcolonial methodology, it explores African and French authors such as Georges Balandier, Cheikh Anta Diop, Frantz Fanon, Chris Marker, Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Alain Resnais, Jean-Paul Sartre and Placide Tempels. This study explores the intellectual legacy of the ‘long nineteenth century’ and the difficulty encountered by these authors to articulate their anti-colonial agenda away from the modern methodologies of the ‘colonial library’. By focussing on issues of intellectual alienation, this book also demonstrates that the post-WW2 period foreshadowed twenty-first century debates on extroversion, racial inequalities, the decolonization of history, and cultural (mis)appropriation.Trade Review"This is a thoroughgoing and scholarly study of African culture, anthropology and history during the lead-up to decolonization, using the notion of temporality as a lens through which to assess this complex transitional period. It is a high quality piece of research, offering a wealth of new insight on a complex question."Jane Hiddleston, University of Oxford'Fraiture's intervention in the debate is monumental. He helps the English-speaking world see the part of the debate that, until now, lacked visibility, i.e. the de-colonialists who challenged the French colonial system. And he does it in superb English –a gift to be savoured. The reader gulps with curiosity as Fraiture opens the vaults of history for our benefit. He educates in a very dazzling way. [...] This book is a labour of love; the scholarship is a pure bravura. No one concerned about decolonization can be without this book. It is first-rate.'Paul Okojie, Africa International Network'Pierre-Philippe Fraiture’s opus is an astute book that breaks new ground in the study of decolonization in the twentieth century. An erudite tour de force that deconstructs complex and oftentimes demanding texts, Past Imperfect succeeds in bringing to the fore the intertextual dialogues among African, Antillean, and French intellectuals in their effort to unmake colonialism and the epistemologies that informed its implementation. This makes it a must-read for any scholar interested in the decolonial turn in African studies.' B. Bamba, African Studies ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsPreludeIntroductionChapter I: ‘Pasts and Futures’Chapter II ‘Things’Chapter III: ‘Words’Chapter IV: ‘Customs’Conclusion: ‘Decolonization: a Work in Progress’Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe third in the Roman Conquests series briefly covers Rome's first forays into the dark continent during the First and Second Punic Wars, then covers in detail her vindictive final conquest and destruction of Carthage in the Third Punic War. The subsequent long wars against the slippery Numidian prince, Jugurtha, which tested the Roman military system to the limit, also occupy a central place. With a cast of characters including Hannibal, the Scipios, Marius, Sulla and the wily Jugurtha, this is sure to be a popular addition to the series.Like the other volumes, this book gives a clear narrative of the course of these wars, explaining how the Roman war machine coped with formidable new foes and the challenges of unfamiliar terrain and climate. Specially-commissioned colour plates by Graham Sumner bring the main troop types vividly to life in meticulously-researched detail.

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Book SynopsisThe Fatimid empire was a highly sophisticated and cosmopolitan regime that flourished from the beginning of the 10th to the end of the 12th century. Under the enlightened rule of the Fatimid Caliphs, Cairo was founded as the nucleus of an imperium that extended from Arabia in the east to present-day Morocco in the west. Dynamic rulers like the the fourth caliph al-Mu'izz (who conquered Egypt and founded his new capital there) were remarkable not only for their extensive conquests but also for combining secular with religious legitimacy. As living imams of the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism, they exercised authority over both spiritual and secular domains. The sacred dimension of their mandate was manifested most powerfully twice a year, when the imam-Caliphs personally delivered sermons, or khutbas, to their subjects, to co-incide with the great feasts and festivals of fast-breaking and sacrifice.While few of these sermons have survived, those that have endured vividly evoke both of the atmosphere of the occasion and the words uttered on it. Paul E Walker here provides unique access to these orations by presenting the Arabic original and a complete English translation of all the khutbas now extant. He also offers a history of the festival sermons and explores their key themes and rhetorical strategies.Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements PART ONE A History of the Fatimid khutba Rhetoric and Themes in the Surviving khutbas PART TWO Translations The khutbas of al-Qa’im The khutbas of al-Mansur The khutbas of al-Mu’izz The khutbas of Qirwash The khutbas of al-Amir PART THREE Arabic Texts Glossary Bibliography Arabic and English indexes

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Book SynopsisThe Library of Alexandria was one of the greatest cultural adornments of the late ancient world, containing thousands of scrolls of Greek, Hebrew and Mesopotamian literature and art and artefacts of ancient Egypt. This book demonstrates that Alexandria became - through the contemporary reputation of its library - a point of confluence for Greek, Roman, Jewish and Syrian culture that drew scholars and statesmen from throughout the ancient world. It also explores the histories of Alexander the Great and of Alexandria itself, the greatest city of the ancient world. This new paperback edition offers general readers an accessible introduction to the history of this magnificent yet still mysterious institution from the time of its foundation up to its tragic destruction.Trade Review"These fascinating, far-ranging essays should appeal to the general as well as the academic reader" -Arthur Foss, Anglo-Hellenic Review

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Book SynopsisEgypt looms large in the Western imagination. Whether it is our attraction to pharaonic art, the pyramids or practices of mummification, Egypts unique understanding of materiality speaks to us across space and time. Is it because the ancient Egyptians fetishized material objects that we find their culture captivating today? And what exactly do Egyptian remains tell us about biography, embodiment, memory, materiality, and the self? Object Worlds in Ancient Egypt takes New Kingdom Egypt (1539-1070 BC) as its starting point and considers how excavated objects reveal the complex ways that ancient Egyptians experienced their material world. From life to death, the material world instantiated, reflected and influenced social life and existence for ancient Egyptians. Thus, in Meskells unique approach to the materiality and sensuousness of subjects and objects, we uncover the philosophical, spiritual and human meanings embedded in these cultural artefacts. Meskells book explores the fundamental existential questions that not only preoccupied ancient Egyptians, but continue to fascinate people today. What is the essence of persons and things? How might we understand the situated experiences of material life, the constitution of the object world and its shaping of human experience? How might objects successfully mediate between worlds? In the final analysis, Meskell moves forward through time and examines the consumption and appreciation of these Egyptian material objects in the contemporary world. Materiality is our physical engagement with the world, our medium for inserting ourselves into the fabric of that world and our way of constituting and shaping culture in an embodied and external sense. From that perspective it is very much the domain of anthropology and archaeology.Drawing on a wide range of objects, artefacts, and artwork, from Valley of the Kings through to Las Vegas, Meskell provides an elegant analysis of the aesthetics of ancient Egyptian material cultureTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Objects In The Mirror May Appear Closer Than They AreChapter 2: Taxonomy, Agency, BiographyChapter 3: Material Memories: Objects as AncestorsChapter 4: Statue Worlds and Divine ThingsChapter 5: On Hearing, Phenomenology and DesireChapter 6: Sketching Lifeworlds, Performing ResistanceChapter 7: Object Lessons from Modernity AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Objects In The Mirror May Appear Closer Than They AreChapter 2: Taxonomy, Agency, BiographyChapter 3: Material Memories: Objects as AncestorsChapter 4: Statue Worlds and Divine ThingsChapter 5: On Hearing, Phenomenology and DesireChapter 6: Sketching Lifeworlds, Performing ResistanceChapter 7: Object Lessons from Modernity

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Book SynopsisEmily Hobhouse, 1860-1926, was one of the first great women of the twentieth century. She was a feminist, a pacifist and an internationalist, and above all a humanitarian. She worked tirelessly for the disadvantaged and, in the case of the South African women and children who were herded into concentration camps by Lord Kitchener, was relentless in expound-ing their cause. This took great courage. She was deported from Cape Town, and was unable to get legal redress. Emily Hobhouse's young life was spent in a tiny village in east Cornwall where her father was Rector and it was only when he died that she was able to expand her horizons. She was 35 and untrained. She went to Minnesota, U.S.A., to do welfare work for Cornish miners and formed an unfortunate relationship with a man who became Mayor of the town. They planned to marry and live in Mexico. Emily spent a trying time until the engagement was broken off just before the Boer War started. After the war she travelled through the ravaged areas of South Africa and devised a successful scheme of home industries for young girls on isolated farms. Illness forced her to seek refuge in Italy where she remained almost to the beginning of World War I, and began her famous corre-spondence first with J.C. Smuts and then with Isabel Steyn. Her comments on the events of the day show unusual foresight. She was loved by the people of South Africa and admired by those like Mahatma Gandhi who asked for her help. She was a bit of a painter, a writer and an entertainer, and in spite of ill-health travelled easily between countries, even in the midst of the first World War when she went to Germany, and hoped to obtain peace. Returning to Europe after that war Emily Hobhouse put into a place a number of schemes to help the impoverished, but the cry of the children of Leipzig won her particular sympathy, and with the help of the Save the Children Fund and later the South Africans she devised a feeding scheme for them. The South Africans so admired her that they clubbed together to buy her a little house in Cornwall, at St. Ives. Later Emily moved to London where she died, 8th June 1926. Her remains were cremated and the ashes buried at the foot of the memorial for the women and children who died in the Anglo Boer War for whom she had worked so hard. This book contains an outline of Emily Hobhouse's life and work including much new material; official and un-official records of the Concentration Camps set up by Lord Kitchener in the Anglo Boer War; many letters, and correspondence with J.C. Smuts and Isabel Steyn, wife of the ex-President of the Orange Free State.

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Book SynopsisThe author of this book presents an innovative approach to the history of Nubia. The period covered includes the fall of Meroe and the rise of the united kingdom of Nobadia and Makuria. The emphasis was put on the analysis of social and political change/dynamics/transformations. Moreover some major improvements of the chronological nomenclature have been suggested. To date, it has been largely influenced by the early 20th cent. politically incorrect approach to African cultures and the contemporary state of research. The author implies that there is actually no reason which would compel modern scholars to study and describe the history of Nubia in other ways than the rest of the world. It means that all studies postdating this path-breaking book should be based on actual political changes and not vague racial or religious criteria. Nowadays we can be certain that after the fall of Meroe there was no political vacuum, but various political organisms immediately started to rise: Nobadia, Makuria and Alwa. For this reason the term 'Group X' should not be used any longer.Trade Review...Obluski's broader claim about the essential continuity of Nubian late antiquity is convincing. It is in keeping with more general trends in Nubian studies, which have in the last generation seen Nubian studies less as an ongoing cycle of external influence and disruption and more as the continuous history of a single population. Obluski's work on late antique Nubia is a welcome addition to this corpus. -- Bryn Mawr Classical Review Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Book SynopsisThe complete wall decorations of 3 Theban tombs (No. 77, No. 175 and No. 249) are here published for the first time. The graves at Thebes in Egypt, belonged to a master builder of the Amon temple in the time of Thutmosis IV, a purveyor of sweets in Amenophis III's temple of the dead, and a man in the business of scented oils. To date, only individual scenes from these tombs have been published, but here the reader is presented with the decorations in their entirety, including black and white photographs and line drawings, together with transcriptions and translations of all of the related texts.

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Book SynopsisTwo aspects of the Egyptian civilisation characterise the work of Erik Iversen: Its original art and literature, and its reception in Europe from classical antiquity to Renaissance, Baroque and Romanticism. He is known for his papyrus editions, philological and lexicographical studies, and the tracing of cultural traditions outside of Egypt.Table of ContentsDer Tempel der aegyptischen Spaetzeit als Kanonisierung kultureller Identitaet, Jan Assmann; principi e obelischi a Roma, Sergio Donadoni; afrikanische und asiatische Ortsnamen in ptolemaeischen Listen, Elmar Edel; a naophorous figure of Irhorudjanefu, Iorwerth E.S. Edwards; on the root "nfr" and a "clever" remark on embalming, Poul John Frandsen; a model of divine anger (Turin 102), Sarah Israelit Groll; die "Geschichte des Schiffbruechigen" - eine Stimme der Opposition?, Wolfgant Helck; a propos des Aegyptica du haut moyen-age en France, Jean Leclant; parva Memphitica, Herman de Meulenaere; une statue-groupe en haut-relief de Ramses IV, Karol Mysliwiec; zu zwei literarischen Werken des Mittleren Reiches, Juergen Osing.

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Book SynopsisUnder the Ptolemies thousands of Greek-speaking foreigners were resident in Egypt: they were active in the armed forces, in the administration, in commerce. In official and notarial documents they are identified by their ethnic, i.e. their real or fictive origin outside Egypt. The present work provides a complete inventory of the ethnics, which refer to Greek city-states (e.g. 'Athenian', 'Syracusan'), but also to regions in Greece (e.g. 'Cretan', 'Thessalian') or elsewhere (e.g. 'Thracian', 'Jew'). The data are incorporated in the database of the "Prosopographia Ptolemaica" and offer a diversified view of the Greek presence in Egypt between 323 and 30 BC.

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Book SynopsisThe seventh volume of proceedings of the International Colloquia on the History of Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras covers the 16th, 17th and 18th gatherings, organized at Ghent University in 2007, 2008 and 2009. True to tradition, the 28 articles deal with a wide variety of scholarly subjects, all revolving around the central theme of Syro-Egypt's high and late medieval history. Topics dealt with include archaeology, architecture, codicology, economic, political, and religious history, as well as belles-lettres. With contributions by C.D. Baker, M. Brett, P.-V. Claverie, N. Coureas, K. Damgaard, J. Drory, J.-Ch. Ducene, Y. Frenkel, H. Halm, H. Hanisch, A.R. Lalani, S. Laor-Sirak, Y. Lev, P. Lewicka, J.-M. Mouton & B. Dayoub, L. Richter-Bernburg, A. Schippers, A. Stewart, J. Yeshaya and Th.M. Wijntjes.

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Book SynopsisThis present volume is dedicated to Gawdat Gabra, the former director of the Coptic Museum in Cairo and now Professor of Coptology at the University of Claremont in the USA. Dr Gabra is one of the pioneers of Coptic studies in modern times and the author and editor of many valuable and highly regarded monographs, series and articles. Although the papers in this volume do not have a single theme, all of them share an interest and focus on one topic: Egypt. They cover many fields in Coptology and Egyptology, such as art, Biblical studies, liturgy, Copto-Arabic studies and archaeology. They present the results of recent academic research and archaeological excavations. The seventeen contributors to this volume belong to three continents and work in seven countries all over the world, but all of them appreciate the long-time efforts of Gawdat Gabra for Coptic studies on an academic level as well as his indefatigable labour to make laymen aware of Coptic Egypt.

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